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Harley Davidson Unveils Electric Motorcycle

by Meg Duley,posted Jun 20 2014 6:34AM

When you consider who might be interested in getting an electric motorcycle, probably the last person you'd think of is a Harley-Davidson rider. But that's not what the classic American company thinks, having designed an electric concept motorcycle called Project LiveWire.

In fairness, Harley is looking more to win new customers than to get traditional Harley riders to go electric. Jeff Richlen, chief engineer of Harley-Davidson new products, told Yahoo Autos, "We see this as a bike for more urban areas. It's something that's appealing to people that perhaps haven't considered a Harley before, but it still retains our core DNA." The LiveWire has an electric motor that produces 75 horsepower and allows the bike to reach 60 miles per hour in under four seconds, and it has a total range of around 53 miles before recharging. Those are what the numbers are for now, at least, since this a test bike, not one that's in production yet. Harley also says it's created a new sound signature for the LiveWire that's different from the traditional Harley sound, describing it as "fighter jet on an aircraft carrier."

A few dozen LiveWires will go on tour around the U.S. and Europe to see how buyers respond to the bike and what might need changing if and when it goes on sale. Richlen said, "So far, riders have been stoked. The response has been phenomenal, but the tech is still maturing."